Bhuvneshwar Kumar picks 5 wickets in 9 balls vs Karnataka in SMAT 2023

Bhuvneshwar Kumar last played for India in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals against England at Adelaide Oval.

There was a time when Bhuvneshwar Kumar was India's leading pacer in white-ball format. But it looked like Indian management have side-lined him completely and moved on to find other young options. The veteran pacer was part of India's squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, India made a horrible semi-finals exit after losing against England by ten wickets.

Since then, Indian selection committee hasn't picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But despite not much hope of making an international comeback, the veteran pacer is playing at the domestic level and performing brilliantly. He is currently playing in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023 (SMAT 2023) for his state team, Uttar Pradesh.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar picks up five wickets in just nine balls vs Karnataka in SMAT 2023

Uttar Pradesh locked horns with Karnataka in a match of group E at the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Dehradun. Batting first, UP posted a big total of 196/4 in 20 overs. Abhishek Goswami made 77 runs at the top, followed by some good contributions in the middle-order. In reply, Karnataka were looking good at 139/5 in 16 overs when Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up five wickets.

He dismissed five batters in just nine balls to help his team win the game. From 139/5, Karnataka got all out for just 156 runs in 18.3 overs, and UP won the game by 40 runs. Bhuvi ended up with a bowling figures of 5/16 in 3.3 overs. This was the third win for UP in their group, and they moved to second place.

It was Bhuvneshwar Kumar's fifth five-wicket haul in T20s, and he also had two in T20 internationals. He is the only Indian bowler to have two T20I fifers to his name. Bhuvi has taken ten wickets in four games of the SMAT 2023 at an average of just 8.21. He has been performing well at the domestic level, but it is hard to say that he will make a comeback for Indian team.